The Thich Nhat Hanh Continuation Fund 

By Elizabeth Hospodarsky 

“Don’t worry if you feel you can only do one tiny good thing in one small corner of the cosmos. Just be a Buddha body in that one place.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

From the time the Buddha began to teach, members of the fourfold Sangha have engaged in the practice of dana (giving) by sharing time, talent, and money to help spread the Dharma and meet the needs of the community. This tradition continues today. The practice of giving—cultivating the spirit of generosity—is one of the foundations of the Buddhist path. Thich Nhat Hanh and the monastic community inspire and guide laypeople to transform our suffering and the suffering in the world, and we express our gratitude by providing support to meet monastics’ basic needs, assist with their charitable work, and share the Buddha’s teachings.

Sister Chan Khong tells a story about when she lived in Vietnam during the war and worked tirelessly to feed the hungry. She would go from house to house, asking for just a handful of rice to help feed the children. When a head of household heard what she was doing, he would often offer her a small amount of money—much more than just the handful of rice she had asked for. She would kindly refuse, and ask each person in the household, even the cook, for a dollar. By the time she left the house, she would have ten dollars—much more than the amount that was originally offered!

Sister Chan Khong, Thay, and the monastic community still feed hungry children in Vietnam. They share the practice of mindfulness and compassion with thousands of people every year at practice centers all over the world. They transform lives.

A Spiritual Family

I often marvel at how fortunate I am to have experienced the transformative teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. I am sure you feel fortunate, too. Twenty years ago, my heart was not filled with love and happiness, but with great despair. I even thought I might be better off dead. My family loved me, but they were not able to water my seeds of happiness and well-being. Fortunately, I was blessed to meet Thay through his books, and over time attended retreats, found my local Sangha, and joyfully joined my spiritual family. Thay’s loving kindness allowed me to transform my own suffering, misperceptions, and anger into joy, peacefulness, and compassion. And now, as a recent ordinee into the Order of Interbeing, I feel firmly planted in the fertile soil of the Sangha, where seeds of happiness are watered every day!

The truth is that Thay and the Buddha saved my life. Like many of you, I hold profound gratitude for Thay, our monastic brothers and sisters, and the worldwide Sangha for providing this loving and compassionate community.

I am so happy to know that people in our community share my feeling of gratitude and have created sufficient conditions to ensure the continuation of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings and work around the world. The Thich Nhat Hanh Continuation and Legacy Foundation is a group of dedicated monastic and lay volunteers working together to provide the material means to teach the practices of mindfulness, loving speech, and deep listening throughout the world.

TNH Continuation Fund

This past summer, throughout Thay’s North American tour, Sister Chan Khong, Brother Phap Dung, Brother Phap Hai, Sister Peace, Jeanie Seward-Magee, Denise Nguyen, Laura Hunter, Harvey McKinnon, and I happily shared this new fundraising effort with those who attended retreats, public talks, and days of mindfulness. We invited people to join the Continuation Fund by becoming monthly donors. The response was overwhelmingly positive. People expressed relief that the financial needs of the fourfold Sangha were being addressed, and joy in showing their gratitude and thanks to Thay.

Now we invite you, a core supporter and practitioner, to join us in the Continuation Fund by making a monthly gift. It’s easy to do, and it will benefit you and many others around the world.

Your dana supports:

Blue Cliff, Deer Park, and Magnolia Grove Monasteries. Many of us have experienced deep joy and peacefulness at one of these beautiful practice centers. The monastic brothers and sisters give us focused and insightful instruction in the Dharma, which we then put into practice as we endeavor to live mindfully in society. Your support will help supply the necessary resources to maintain the practice centers, make urgently needed improvements, and meet the growing demands of attendees.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s teaching around the world. Every year, Thay and the fourfold community travel extensively to offer retreats and share the message of mindfulness and compassion with many different groups of people, including politicians, educators, environmentalists, business leaders, and children. Contact with new audiences helps grow our community and broaden exposure to mindfulness practice. Your kind gifts will allow this outreach to continue, and will create scholarship opportunities for people who would otherwise be unable to attend retreats.

Monks and nuns in Thailand and Vietnam. Many brothers and sisters are doing essential work while living in primitive conditions. Your support helps the monastics meet their own basic needs so that they can continue to help the poor and share the Dharma with Thai and Vietnamese people.

Online Dharma sharing and publications. Many people are not able to attend retreats and do not have access to a local Sangha. However, through Internet Dharma talks, podcasts, videos, books, and journals, millions of people are able to touch the Dharma and learn about mindfulness. If there is a way to communicate the Dharma, we are doing it.

A Joyful Act of Service

The Thich Nhat Hanh Continuation and Legacy Foundation is governed by a foundation board consisting of monastic and lay members. A committee of advisors assists the board by providing technical expertise and strategic thinking. The TNH Continuation and Legacy Foundation works under the guidance of the governing board of the Unified Buddhist Church. By working together mindfully with the goal of easing suffering in the world, everyone involved strives to fulfill the aspirations of our ancestral teachers to spread the Dharma with thoughtfulness and love.

In the coming months, a primary goal for the foundation board will be to assist individual practice communities in assessing needs for their physical and operational continuation, so that each one continues to be a favorable, appropriate place to live and practice. The board’s other primary goal will be to ensure that all organizational, technical, and regulatory needs are met, so that asking for and receiving gifts is a joyful and valuable act of service for all members of our Sangha.

I hope you will join me and many others by becoming a member of the Continuation Fund. We are interconnected and need to support each other. I hope that you will feel joy in knowing that your handful of rice, added to everyone else’s, is enough to bring peace and ease the suffering of innumerable beings long into the future. Your monthly gift—no matter how small or large—will help ensure the continuation of our monastic communities, our collective mindfulness practice, and the peace advocacy of Thay and the fourfold Sangha. Join us by signing up at thichnhathanhfoundation.org.

Elizabeth Hospodarsky, True Ocean of Attainment, humbly serves on the TNH Continuation and Legacy Foundation Board. She also works with environmental nonprofits to help protect animals, plants, and minerals in the U.S. and Canada. She lives with her husband and two children in Tucson, Arizona, and practices with Singing Bird Sangha.